"There are places I can't go, like outside my body."

Self-knowledge, the power of friendship and of the arts, self-awareness, queer experience all communicated through prose poetry; Yanyi's vulnerability, sincerity and emotional reactivity to her life as an immigrant Chinese American are palpable throughout the collection.

"What I also mean to say is that I recognize the focus. The impulse to know someone else before you reveal yourself. The impulse to know someone else because you have never been asked to reveal yourself. The impulse to know someone else because otherwise, you do not know yourself. The impulse to know someone else because you are self-conscious of your whole self, the one that fills up too many rooms, so much space. The impulse to hide how much space you need. The impulse to hide what you need."